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Questions created by EricVallee34
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Anyone else have trouble with Open Site Explorer
Ever since the new Open Site Explorer came out, I've haven't been able to use the download feature. It just gives me a prompt saying "No Data Received." Anyone else have trouble with OSE, or been able to get past this issue?
Moz Pro | | EricVallee341 -
SEOBook Rank Check Problem
Has anyone who uses SEOBook Rankcheck in Firefox (version 7) had problems with the tool picking up rankings for Bing, but not Google? I've got keywords that I know I rank in the top 10 (and my Raven account confirms it), but when I run a report on Rank Checker, those same words aren't ranking; instead I just get a "-". I've tried restarting my computer and emptying my cookies; but no luck. Any thoughts?
Reporting & Analytics | | EricVallee340 -
How often do people use Google Product Search
I was was reading Tom Critchlow's excellent blog on how to rank well for Google Product Search. I'm trying to find out if there are stats on how often people use this feature in Google (since it is not listed on Google's main navigation). I'm working with a customer who has b-2-b products and am trying to determine the value of adjusting his ecommerce pages to appear on Google Product Search.
Algorithm Updates | | EricVallee340 -
How to Add Content to a Product-Focused Site
I recently took over management of the SEO work for the following site: http://www.grovercorp.com/rings-and-seals/. I want to do link building, but don't have a ton of experience with it. From what I've read, offering linkable content is the best way to get links. However, this site -- like many in industrial B-2-B -- is focused primarily on promoting their products. I'd like tto offer an article or add an infographic, but am not sure where I would put it? It doesn't seem like the architecture offers a good place to add linkable content. Anyone have thoughts or suggestions?
Link Building | | EricVallee340 -
WordPress Question: Canonical field in Category Section of Yoast SEO Plug In
I've added the Yoast SEO Plug In for my word press blog. When I add a new category, there is a listing called "Edit Category". On this page there is a listing "Yoast WordPress SEO Settings." In this section, there are two fields in which I need guidance on what is supposed to be included. One: There is a field called "Canonical". What info is supposed to be entered in this field and how does it need to be formatted? Is it a URL. If so, what URL is supposed to go there? Two: Breadcrumbs title. What is the purpose of this field? (Isn't it OK to just use the category name as the breadcrumb title?)
Technical SEO | | EricVallee340 -
Is it necessary to optimize every page of a site
I recently took over the SEO work for a website that has a limited budget. I'd like to use the resources to get as much as I can for a few pages on the site (keyword research, on-page optimization). Are there pitfalls to not optimizing every page on a site? If so, what are they?
On-Page Optimization | | EricVallee340 -
Semantic Web and Schema
Is anyone from SEOmoz planning on writing anything about the Semantic Web and Schema and how they see it impacting SEO?
Technical SEO | | EricVallee340 -
Optimizing Wordpress Categories
I’m trying to optimize the category links in the wordpress blog http://blog.reputationforward.com. I’m in the process of installing the Yeost SEO plugin and am going to revise the Category Title Tags, Meta Descriptions and slugs. I’m also in the process of using Tags so that I can get the posts that appear in a category to be specific to that category (currently the publisher is listing posts in multiple categories: See “Business Management Category”). But other than that, is there anything else I can do to optimize each category?
On-Page Optimization | | EricVallee341 -
Changing Category Names in Wordpress Blog & Inbound Links
I'm working on a wordpress blog, /www.athleticfoodie.com, and I'd like to change the names of the categories so that I include keywords. If I change the current category name of "Healthy Recipes" to "Recipes for Athletes" will I lose the inbound links associated with the category and/or posts? Is there a way to prevent this?
Link Building | | EricVallee340 -
How to optimize a wordpress blog
I’m helping a client optimize a word press blog, and I’m not that familiar with Wordpress. The site is www.athleticfoodie.com. At first I was treating it like a normal website, where the categories would be optimized like pages on a website. However, I now realize that categories don’t have any content on them, so I can’t really optimize anything other than the names. Are the following things the best way to handle on-page optimization for a blog? Optimizing the homepage & domain: Find ways to incorporate the most important keywords into the elements on the main frame of the site: Navigation menu, Widgets, Category names, Alt Images. Optimizing the categories: For the posts within the categories (i.e., photos), work to make sure the category keywords are worked into the post titles (but not too much to seem spammy) Optimizing specific posts. Work keywords into the text and images. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
On-Page Optimization | | EricVallee340 -
New consultant looking for advice on setting client expectations
I'm just starting to provide paid consultation to a few clients who have approached me for SEO help. As I've not completed a lot of projects, I'm looking for guidance on how to set expectations. I get the feeling that one of my clients is going to expect that once our initial work (keyword research, addressed their primary technical issues, fixing on-page issues) that they will automatically appear on the first page of Google. In a project with 50 keywords, I believe this may be true for a few keywords where there isn't a lot of competition. However, I believe that for many of the keywords, we won't be able to achieve ranking on the first page unless we do an on-going link-building program. Is this assumption accurate?
Technical SEO | | EricVallee340 -
Importance of an optimized home page (index)
I'm helping a client redesign their website and they want to have a home page that's primarily graphics and/or flash (or jquery). If they are able to optimize all of their key sub-pages, what is the harm in terms of SEO?
Technical SEO | | EricVallee340 -
Real-life examples of websites with flat-site architecture
I'm trying to gain a better understanding of the concept of flat-site architecture, especially with larger sites. I'd like to see how larger sites accomplish getting their visitors to the majority of their pages within 3 to 4 clicks. Does anyone know of any actual websites that exemplifies the practice of flat-site architecture?
Technical SEO | | EricVallee340 -
Site-wide keyword density
A colleague of mine was saying that he has been able to get top ranking for a high traffic term by using variations of that head term on multiple pages that are associated with the main page. For example,he would optimize a landing page for the high traffic word "Construction." He would then build pages under this landing page that are optimized for variations of this word: "Construction facts," "Industrial Construction Companies," "Construction Resource Allocator" etc. His theory is that the subpages add credibility with spiders that the root page is the best for that root page. This doesn't seem like it would work, but I'm curious as to what other people think.
On-Page Optimization | | EricVallee340 -
Keyword Research: Does Google view the word "and" as an "or" statement
I'm doing keyword research and one of the terms I have found that work for my website are "exercise and vitamins". One of my colleagues told me that Google views searches that contain the word "and" as an "or" statement (i.e., the searcher is looking for either "excercise" or "vitamins"). My understanding of the word "and" is that it is a stop word, which is ignored by Google. Which is correct?
Keyword Research | | EricVallee340 -
What are the benefits of targeting one keyword phrase per page vs. multiple keywords per page
What are the benefits of optimizing a page for one keyword phrase versus a group of similar keywords, like this one that Rand posted on another blog entry http://bit.ly/7LzTxY: Ted Baker Ted Baker London Ted Baker Clothing Ted Baker Mens Ted Baker Mens Clothing Ted Baker Mens Collection
On-Page Optimization | | EricVallee340 -
Is Google Places appropriate for an ecommerce site and blogs
I'm working with a client that has an ecommerce site. He has e physical addresses where they work, however, neither would want customers to go to their office. Is it inappropriate to create a Google Places listing in this situation? I'm working with another client who runs a blog for his PR agency. Is it OK to create a Google Places listing for a blog? He would welcome people to visit his agency.
On-Page Optimization | | EricVallee340 -
How do you limit the number of keywords that will be researched
I'm working with a client who has a website, but doesn't really have a clearly defined idea of who their key audience is nor do they know what keyword phrases they would like to rank for. I know that I can generate a starting list by reviewing their site, but I want to set some parameters on it so I can provide an accurate estimate. I'm looking for suggestions on how to do this.
Keyword Research | | EricVallee340 -
Evaluating Competition of a Keyword
I'm curious about how others evaluate the competition of keywords when putting together an SEO program: Do you place any faith in the competition listing in the Google Keyword Tool? Do you find value in SEOmoz's Keyword Difficulty tool? What other tactics or processes do you perform?
Keyword Research | | EricVallee340 -
A good rule of thumb for competition and local searches when selecting keywords
I'm doing keyword research in the Google Keyword Tool and was looking and spending a lot of time looking at keyword competition and local searches. I'm trying to determine what is a good rule of thumb for what level of competition and local searches people have used when selecting the keywords they will optimize for. I've currently been trying to find ones that have less than 50% (moderate) competition and less than 1,000 monthly searches. Also, which do you put more weight on the competition or the number of searches.
Keyword Research | | EricVallee341 -
Invisible Long Tail Keywords
I've been doing some research on SEOmoz and have seen some posts relating to invisible long tail keywords. I have a couple of questions relating to this: Am I correct to understand that an invisible long tail keyword won't show any search in a tool like the Google Keyword Tool? If not, how do you define it? If an invisible long tail keyword has almost no search (or search that can be proven by an SEO researcher), how can you be confident that it will produce results?
Keyword Research | | EricVallee341 -
Setting up Google Analytic Goals to a 3rd Party Site
I recently received help on a question I asked on SEOmoz but need additional clarification. I am trying to set up goals in Google Analytics for people who click on a “purchase botton” which sends them to PayPal. I created a Thank You page and tried to get PayPal to redirect to it, however, our customers only get to our site’s 404 page. Here is what I’ve done so far: Went into my PayPal account and turned the “Auto Return” to ‘on’ Under website payment preferences, I added the following URL http://www.teecycle.org/thank-youutm_nooverride1. (I formatted the URL this way because the person who provided me with help recommended using the format ?UTM_nooverride=1. However, our CMS system won’t allow “?” or “=”)
Reporting & Analytics | | EricVallee340 -
Setting up Goals in Google Analytics that involve a 3rd party site
I've set up several goals for one of my clients in Google Analytics. The ones that relate to things on the site -- such as clicking on the "Contact Us" button -- work just fine. However, I set up one that is tracking when someone clicks on a purchase button, which sends the user to a third party site (PayPal). This one doesn't seem to work. (I purchased and item and the goal was not recorded). Looking to see if I have to do anything different when setting up the goal.
Reporting & Analytics | | EricVallee340 -
C-blocks and linking
I'm just starting to learn about cblock root domains and linking. I'm wondering about the following: Are there articles or websites to learn about dos and don'ts about getting a large number of links from one cblock? How do I know when a site has too many links versus the number of unique cblocks? I've been using Link Harvester on SEO Book and it seems like not many sites have more than 170 unique cblocks. Is this the total number of unique cblocks on the web or am I using the tool wrong?
Link Building | | EricVallee340 -
Link Ratio
Does Google (or other search engines) penalize websites if they have a too many inbound links from a single domain? (Say for instance, I have 500 inbound links, and 400 of them are from one root domain.)
Link Building | | EricVallee340 -
Are HTML sitemaps still in use today?
I'm trying to help a client understand the importance of having a well-organized HTML site map as a method of helping usability. As part of this process, I spent some time searching for good examples of well-organized HTML site maps, and found that many sites don't offer one (including SEOmoz). I'm wondering if webmasters and/or SEOers think they aren't valuable any longer?
Web Design | | EricVallee340 -
Optimizing two site pages for the same keyword phrase
If a keyword works really well for two pages on your site, is it OK to optimize both pages for that keyword? Is it possible that Google will rank both pages? For example, one of the companies I've worked with is a software developer. They want to use the keyword phrase “simple project management software” for both the home page http://www.wennsoft.com/ and for the product page http://www.wennsoft.com/en/Solutions/By-Products/projectmanagement.aspx. (I’ve got other alternatives that I can use, but optimizing both pages for the same keyword would be the path of least resistance).
Keyword Research | | EricVallee340 -
Correct use for Robots.txt
I'm in the process of building a website and am experimenting with some new pages. I don't want search engines to begin crawling the site yet. I would like to add the Robot.txt on my pages that I don't want them to crawl. If I do this, can I remove it later and get them to crawl those pages?
Web Design | | EricVallee340 -
Choosing keywords for similar products on an ecommerce site
In the case of an e-commerce website, can you optimize multiple pages using the same keyword ‘root’ but including different long-tail variances of that ‘root’? For example, say I’m optimizing for a site that sells wallpaper. I found search traffic for the keyword “buy wallpaper online,” but no traffic for “Blue Tinted Wallpaper” (or its variants) and no taffic for “Yellow Plaid Wallpaper” (or its variants). Could I effectively optimize both of these pages using the root “Buy wallpaper online”, yet distinguish the pages by using long-tail variants such as “Buy Blue Tinted Wallpaper Online” and “Buy Yellow plaid Wallpaper Online”? Any examples of this you can point to?
Keyword Research | | EricVallee340 -
Keywords
I'm working on an e-commerce site and I'm having trouble determining how to find keyword targets for similar product pages. The company sells posters and they have three posters for Babe Ruth: Babe Ruth Winning, Babe Ruth Attitude and Babe Ruth Desire. After doing keyword research, I found there is a good amount of traffic for "Babe Ruth Posters" but none for "Babe Ruth Winning Posters," "Babe Ruth Attitude Posters" and "Babe Ruth Desire Posters." How can I differentiate these three product pages? Can I optimize them for a term that doesn't have traffic, hoping that one or more of these pages will come up when someone enters the search term "Babe Ruth Posters."
Keyword Research | | EricVallee340 -
HTML and no index, follow
I’m just learning about HTML and I was wondering can a tag be put into a dynamic HTML page?
Technical SEO | | EricVallee340